June 2017 – Mary's Kitchen

June 27, 2017June 27, 2017

For The Love of My Dog

A Birthday Tribute to Our Hungarian Vizsla Toffee who is 13 Today

Pedigree Name at Birth – Stanegate Lupin Born – June 27, 2004

Where does the time go we often ask ourselves? Toffee, our much-loved Vizsla is 13 today and it’s hard to comprehend or compact all the walks and adventures we have had in one small blog – but I will try.

The bond was instant. Toffee chose us before we had a chance to even look at the litter of Vizslas running around our feet. Her fur was silky smooth and more blond than auburn – I confess I called her Blondie for the first few days before the name Toffee was chosen.

We already had another Vizsla named Fudge and the two became instant soul mates. Fudge being the boss of course, enjoyed playing with and rolling this tiny ball of fur at every opportunity. But the tiny fur ball soon grew and playtime became on equal ground. Toffee and Fudge were firmly glued at the hip. What one did, the other followed. In true Vizsla rules – what one has, the other must have to. What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine to.

One of my favourite moments with the two of them, we had a large trampoline in the garden and I was jumping on it one day when suddenly Toffee jumped up and started jumping up and down following me. While we had the trampoline, hardly a day went by the pair of them didn’t join me for some fun.

A very unhappy moment in her life was when we lost Fudge to a brain tumour

in 2010. Toffee was only 6 and had lost her best friend. I never knew this beforehand but dogs do genuinely grieve. She looked for her everyday for months and sat at the window expecting her return. She was so so sad, as we were to, so our solution to brighten up her spirits and ours was to find her a new friend. Exactly what we did, we introduced her to a new puppy called Honey. Their friendship was never on the same level as Toffee and Fudge, but it did alleviate the grief for all of us somewhat.

Toffee was never a ball chaser – her goals involved procuring food at any opportunity no one was looking and what better place to do that than a barbecue party. Toffee had no shut off valve when it came to food and promptly stole and gobbled about half a dozen hamburgers only to sick every one up a few minutes later. Her eyes were greedier than her belly so we were always on food thief patrol.

We keep a doggy file with all their pedigree papers, vet visits and records of vaccinations, worming and flea/tic treatments. That file has grown considerably over the years especially where Toffee is concerned. In January 2009 when she was only 5, we noticed she was carrying her right back leg and not putting any weight on it. It turned out she required a Tibial Plateau Levelling Operation (TPLO). The recovery time was 6 months and try keeping an active 5 year old Vizsla quiet for 6 months. The was a job and a half. Once she had recovered though she was back to her bouncy self.

We lived on a farm at the time and I was walking her in the field when I noticed her gleefully throwing something in the air, catching it and throwing it again. She then started to chew it. I quickly caught to her only to find to my shock and horror that she was snarling on a large block of rat poison. Straight to the emergency Vet where he induced vomiting and put her on warfarin for 7 days. Now please don’t think we keep rat poison on the premises – the farmer would put it in pipes around the farm but rats do drag it out from time to time and unfortunately dragged onto our grass. This happened on another occasion as well. Again it was an emergency Vet job.

Toffee has never been short of a few bumps and lumps. She had a large growth in her neck and we feared it might be cancerous. Another operation ensued and good fortune followed, it was just a lump of fatty tissue.

Just this year she got a terrible toothache and although she never complained her face was completely swollen. The only way to extract it was of course to put her to sleep which we were very concerned about due to her age, but in true form, she woke up from the aesthetic with an extracted back molar and love pearly white teeth. While she was under, there had been a protruding lump on her back and a decision was made to remove that while she was under. Again, good fortune prevailed and the lump in question was non malignant.

So here we are now with Toffee 13 years young and her two younger sisters, Honey and Cuki who love her to bits. She is definitely the Alpha dog in this house. No matter what life has thrown at her, she has remarkably bounced back from all her adversities and continues to go for short walks, sleeping a little more than usual and in general taking life easy as a senior girl should.

We know how blessed we are that she continues in good health, eats well and loves lots of cuddles and of course, treats. She is one special girl, never complaining and forever a faithful, loving and compassionate friend.

So today we celebrate in style with steaks all round, sausages and finish off with Mince Beef & Carrot cupcakes topped with cream cheese. We wish yo a very Happy Birthday Toffee and may we be blessed with many more.

I have included the recipe which was given to me by another Vizsla lover just in case anyone wants to treat their furbby to a special celebration. You can also watch the video on how to make it on You Tube – Mary PremierCru

Doggy Birthday Cake

500 g minced Beef, 6 eggs beaten, 1-1/2 cup wholemeal flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 3/4 cup oatmeal, 3/4 cup coconut oil, finely chopped parsley, 1-1/2 cup grated carrot. For Icing- use cream cheese plus top with doggy treats.

Mix/beat together beef with wet ingredients. Stir in dry ingredients. Put in cupcake cases. Cook at 200C degrees for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool. Decorate. Voila – Doggy Heaven. 100% Hungarian Vizsla Approved.

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June 9, 2017June 13, 2017

ALDI TAKES THE CLEAN EATING MARKET BY STORM

ALDI TAKES THE CLEAN EATING MARKET BY STORM

I want to share with you my recent find in procuring clean eating ingredients at a fraction of the health food store costs.

You may or may not have an Aldi Supermarket nearby you but if you do, may I suggest you take a visit and witness their amazing collection of clean eating ingredients.

I was recently in Florida and popped into the Aldi on 34th Street in St. Petersburg. We have Aldi’s in the UK as well so I was quite surprised to find they also had supermarkets all around the USA.

I have been following Danette May’s clean eating lifestyle and when buying some of the ingredients found that a lot of the items I needed to buy were only available in health food stores which as you probably know you end up running up quite a bill for a small bag of groceries.

Well I am here to share with you, a lot of the items that clean eaters want to have in their cupboards are available in Aldi.

I love making salsa but of course Tortilla Chips are high in fat and wheat

Homemade salsa, hummus and Greek Yogurt Dip with wholemeal Pitta Bread

content so you can imagine my excitement at finding Multigrain Gluten Free tortilla chips. You can taste the lightness in them and they go great with freshly made salsa, hummus and Greek yogurt dip.

When I started the clean eating program, I started making things like my own Almond Butter and Tahini Paste because I could never find it readily in the supermarket. Aldi sells not only Almond Butter but they also have Cashew and Hazelnut butter. I still make my own Almond Butter and Tahini Paste for the fun of it and if you would like to have a go, you can view my recipes on You Tube (Mary PremierCru) and watch me make these and many other clean eating recipes.

You will also find Almond Milk, Coconut Oil, Organic Kale and Spinach, Chia Seeds, flax seeds, Organic fresh fruits and coconut milk to name just a few. Oh, and I must forget the fresh herbs – everything from fresh mint, basil, rosemary, parsley, thyme and cilantro.

On a more recent visit here in the UK look what I found. I couldn’t believe it. Macca Powder, Green Superblend Powder, Wheatgrass Powder, Spirulina and Cacao powder, and again, and I repeat myself, a fraction of the cost you will pay at health food store.

Macca, Wheatgrass, Cacao, Green Superblend, Spirulina

I even bought a pineapple corer here – amazing. What a great little time saver that is.

I wanted to share this with you because anytime you can save a few pennies on your clean eating products, it pays to shop around.

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If your technically challenged in the kitchen, you may also find my You Tube videos useful where you will see me whipping up some clean eating recipes. You Tube – Mary PremierCru

I hope this information is of some help to you as you follow the Clean Eating Path.

June 6, 2017June 6, 2017

48 Hours at a Polish Wedding in Cycow, Poland

48 HOURS AT A POLISH WEDDING IN CYCOW, POLAND

It’s been a long time since I have been to a wedding and to be invited by my dear friend Lukasz Arasimowicz to attend his cousin Klaudia’s wedding in Poland was not only an honour but a great privilege. To witness and be a part of another country’s traditions and ceremony is a wonderful learning experience.

I flew from Edinburgh to Cycow, Lublin on Friday evening and was greeted by Lukasz and his mother Anna who kindly came to the airport to pick me up. The wedding was the next day and the church was nearly next door to their home.

While Anna and Lukaz’s sister-in-law Ewelina were out getting the make-up and hair done, Lukasz had organised a lovely hairdresser to come to the house to do mine. Wedding hair, as a dub it, requires a time served hair stylist to do a good job and one who actually enjoys doing it. I was delighted at the result.

At 4.30pm the guests started to arrive at the church all blowing their car horns, decorated in balloons and of course, the bride’s limousine was exquisitely decorated in red roses. The service was held in a beautiful catholic church which can only described with pictures so I have included a few here.

After the hour-long service, the bride and groom left the church and all the well-wishers gathered outside. A huge bouquet of red and white balloons were released into the sky to celebrate Klaudia and Adrian’s wedding vows

completed. Each and every guest offers the new Bride and Groom their congratulations, so when a the church is full, (and it was), this part of the ceremony can take a bit of time when there are hundreds of guests. The relatives and friends bless the newlyweds with gifts of money and wine or chocolates. When I saw the boot of the wedding car it had enough wine in there to open a small wine shop. Everyone was so generous and candy was flying in the air instead of confetti as is the Polish custom. All the children hurried to the ground to pick up the fallen sweets.

The reception was at their Uncle Peter’s Inn which was just a 5 minute drive away. When I walked into the reception room, I could not believe just how beautiful everything was set up. Attention to every detail. In true Polish tradition the tables were heavily laden with food, flowers, vodka and wine. What really took my eye was not only how exceptionally elegant everything was set up but the numerous Polish Tree cakes that adorned many tables throughout the room. This traditional polish cake I came to

learn is made from over 120 eggs and is made on a rotisserie over a long period of time. They call it Sekacz, the PolishTree Cake. There were several stalls set up, one with hanging traditional polish sausage and homemade 70 proof vodka, and of course all the men were very keen on this stall. One table covered in more dessert than a bakery, another with fish and cheese. It was certainly a display set out for royalty.

It is tradition to sing throughout the meal at intervals a special song which has the bride and groom up and down kissing every ten minutes. Everyone stands up and claps and sings until they get to witness the desired kiss.

The food of course plays a very important role as well and it never stopped coming. When we sat at our appointed seats, the table was covered in salads, herring and vegetable dishes. The live band played music throughout the

endless courses and Klaudia and Adrian got up during the plentiful dishes

being served to have their first wedding dance together. Everyone rushed to the dance floor to watch the couple dance and this is all while eating and drinking which was great fun. The meal was spread over hours and the singing and dancing continued throughout the night. I jumped up and joined in a conga which intertwined the long tables moving throughout the room both inside and outside.

The band continued to play all night long when suddenly around midnight the room went dark and out were brought a full roast pig and roast boar including fireworks to serve for the midnight feast and until the wee hours of the morning, we ate, drank and danced.

There were games outside for the children in the garden, dressing up for photographs, more dancing and plenty more food followed by copious amounts of vodka which went on until 6am and never stopped for one dull moment. What a truly outstanding celebration. I was sure happy to see my bed because little did I know this was all going to happen again tomorrow.

And it did, the band played, the vodka flowed, the dancing continued and we ate, drank and ate some more. The word diet I don’t believe exists in the Polish language.

But most of all, it was such a beautifully elegant wedding and I personally want to thank the Bride, Klaudia and Groom, Adrian and the Bride’s parents for inviting me to be a part of their very special 48 hour celebration and all the Arasimowicz family, especially Anna, Ewelina, Lukasz, Miehal, Natalie and Szymon.

If you ever get an opportunity to attend a Polish wedding, be sure you go, you will have a fun filled experience with Polish tradition and style.

It was a great pleasure to be a part of this, I feel like one of the family.

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